Netanyahu removes post claiming Arab soccer fans celebrated hikers’ deaths

A false Facebook post by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alleging that supporters of the Sakhnin soccer club disrupted a minute of silence in memory of 10 teens killed in a flash flood, was quietly removed from the premier’s Facebook page on Thursday.

Netanyahu has not apologized or otherwise responded to criticism over the false claim that fans of the club, the most prominent and successful of the teams based in Israel’s Arab communities, booed and celebrated the deaths.

Netanyahu’s claims were based on a report in the right-wing online news outlet Israel National News, whose story about the alleged disruption was still online on Thursday.

The story appears to be based on a letter by activist Itamar Ben-Gvir, an attorney for extremist Jewish activists and a former member of the radical Kach organization, who made the assertion in a complaint to the Israel Football Association after the Saturday game.

The team itself slammed Netanyahu on Sunday for the post, with a spokesperson saying the prime minister was trampling on the bereaved families’ feelings and trying to divide Israeli society.

League officials and members of the opposing team, Hapoel Ra’anana, all maintained that there was no disruption by fans of the Bnei Shakhnin club during the memorial at Sakhnin’s home stadium.

Ten teenagers, high school students on a hike organized by a pre-military academy they were set to attend next year, were swept away in a flash flood last week in a desert canyon.

In his post, which included a link to the Israel National News story, Netanyahu called the purported disruption “an utter disgrace,” adding, “I expect all public leaders, Jews and non-Jews, to forcefully condemn this embarrassing behavior.”

But a Hapoel Ra’anana player told Channel 10 that the minute of silence was observed by most, except for a few children in the top of the stands who apparently didn’t understand what was going on.

The league later said that it too did not find any misbehavior during the short memorial event.

“Following a careful check that we carried out, which included video from the game, the report by the referee, and conversations with those who were on the field, we found no indication of booing and even less so of ‘wild unrestrained behavior’ or demonstrations of joy during the minute of silence in memory of those who died in the flash flood,” a spokesperson for the league said.

“It is very worrying that the prime minister rushed to respond to lies and to respond to those who are seeking to spread abuse and lies,” the Bnei Sakhnin spokesperson said. “It is worrying that the noble prime minister decided to trample on the pain of the families [of the flood victims] for the purpose of dividing Israeli society.”

“It would have been appropriate for the honorable prime minister to stand up for the truth before his hasty response to those who are undermining Israel, that is to say those who spread the false news,” the team statement added.

MK Ofer Shelah of the opposition Yesh Atid party criticized the prime minister for spreading the news report.

“The [soccer] association checked the video, the coach and owners of Ra’anana — all say that it never happened. And who jumps up in order to incite using a rumor that has no basis? The prime minister, of course. When has the truth ever prevented Bibi [Netanyahu] from inciting and dividing?” Shelah charged.

During the 2015 elections Netanyahu drew sharp criticism after he published a video on election day in which he urged Jewish voters to cast their ballots warning that “the Arabs are going in droves to vote.”

Ra’anana won the Saturday game against Sakhnin 3-1.